Uconn

Huskies' Whitmer under siege week after week BY ED DAIGNEAULTRepublican-American

Connecticut quarterback Chandler Whitmer (10) fires a pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game against the South Florida, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

STORRS — There has been one miracle in this otherwise forgettable UConn football season. Quarterback Chandler Whitmer is still able to walk.

The junior college transfer from Newnan, Ga., has been under siege all season. He has been sacked 26 times, the most among Big East quarterbacks, and has been planted probably another 100 times.

Lyle McCombs has carried the ball 164 times but he hasn't taken nearly the beating Whitmer absorbs sometimes.

UConn's inability to consistently block has made Whitmer an easy target. Team after team has loaded up on the blitz and it's only going to continue.

"Yeah, they do it a lot," Whitmer said. "The past couple of games they've been doing some game-plan blitzing we weren't ready for, stuff they haven't shown in the past. Credit to the defenses we've faced. It does make it difficult but that's part of football. Defenses are allowed to blitz and we have to do our jobs and pick that up and still execute the play."

That has happened far too infrequently.

Whitmer admitted that he is still learning blitz pick-ups at his position. But he also said that he can see them coming and he makes what he thinks are the appropriate checks. Even when the Huskies go to maximum protection, it seems that a defender still finds his way free and hammers Whitmer.

He took two nasty hits on consecutive plays at Syracuse on essentially the same blitz. The second resulted in a fumble, but only one of those hits was recorded as a sack. The first one resulted in an incomplete pass on the stat sheet and a near case of whiplash for Whitmer,

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his back bending and his head snapping back.

Whitmer has been one of maybe two offensive players – receiver Geremy Davis is the other – who have been productive this year. It's easy to imagine how much better the offense would be if Whitmer only had some time to throw the ball. Instead, opponents study film and decide the best approach is to send a wave of hit-happy defenders at Whitmer knowing there's a good chance somebody will get to him.

"One thing that happens each week and it's not unusual, usually you see a little bit different blitz than what they have shown," UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "Not everybody goes into the next game with the same pressures from the week before. Typically you see some of the same stuff and typically you see something you haven't seen. That's just part of playing defense.

"I wouldn't say it's a copy-cat thing. Everybody pressures."

Then why does UConn do such a poor job picking it up? It's a mystery.

Rutgers and Cincinnati have allowed six sacks this year. In the case of Rutgers, it's not necessarily because the Scarlet Knights have a dominating offensive line. They are the only team in the league with a worse running game than the Huskies. They just happen to be better in pass protection.

Many of UConn's protection problems can also be traced to the running game. The Huskies end up in too many passing downs, facing second- and third-and-long far too often. It's an easy call for opposing defenses to load up, so much so that foes have employed more run-blitz attacks than UConn has seen in years.

"That comes with not being ahead on the chains and being in long passing downs," Whitmer said. "It's hard for any team to overcome some of the down and distances we're in, especially on third down. But you still have to go out and execute the play.

"You can feel the blitz coming sometimes. Sometimes they do a good job of disguising it and waiting until the last minute to bring it so we're not ready for it. Part of football is adjusting and improvising and making something of it on the fly."

To harp on an old theme, this is where some semblance of a running game would help. Until the Huskies are able to move the ball on the ground, Whitmer is going to be under attack. To his credit, he hasn't criticized his offensive line at all.

Goodness knows he has reason.

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